As four sitting Gig Harbor City Council members and a candidate for City Council, we fully endorse Jill Guernsey for Gig Harbor City Council, Position No. 4.

Guernsey has been an extraordinary public servant serving as a land use attorney in the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office, on the Peninsula School Board (several of those years as president of the board) and as a planning commissioner for the city.

Guernsey and her fellow planning commissioners just concluded a year-and-a-half-long study and development of our Shoreline Master Program. It was an extensive, balanced effort where property rights were protected, as well as …

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I truly hope as people sit down and cast their votes for the Puyallup School Board that they reflect on the credentials of the candidates seeking office. That is why Therese Pasquier has my vote for the Puyallup School Board. I have served with her on Puyallup School District and PTA committees and have seen her at every Puyallup School District rally I have attended. She is always up-front and center encouraging parents to get involved and help make a difference for our kids. She has spent an enormous amount of time and energy working to improve the lives of …

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Evidently, the story about Pierce County misprinting the amount of the proposed tax to pay for South Sound 911 was important enough to put on the front page of the printed paper. This should be on every billboard in Pierce County.

Doug Vanscoy says, “It’s not materially misleading to the voters.” Yes, it is. Even if the language specifies that the proposed tax is “one-tenth of one percent,” anyone with the slightest amount of sophistication knows that the misprint of 0.01 will confuse and/or mislead plenty of voters.

Thanks for the “‘voter advisory.’” Go figure. If you can’t win an argument …

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Tony Apostle, Puyallup’s school superintendent, has announced his retirement at the end of this school year. Puyallup now has the opportunity to reassess the direction of its schools under new leadership.

As a long-practicing pediatrician in the area, I have thought a lot about the needs of our young people and the value of well-run schools in attending to those needs. To simply maintain the status quo at this time would be a serious mistake. Puyallup needs leaders on its school board with a fresh outlook and some civic experience, somebody who can navigate between solid operations and narrow financial …

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I am writing to urge support of Jill Guernsey in her election campaign for Gig Harbor City Council.

Guernsey has been actively involved in the community, including 10 years on the Peninsula School Board (2000-2010) and six years on the Gig Harbor Planning Commission.

One of the main issues Gig Harbor faces is the need to revitalize the downtown. The city needs to work with residents, property owners, business owners and others to create an area where people live, shop and work.

Guernsey has the skills necessary to bring the right people together to resolve this issue. She will bring …

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We voters have no progressive alternative because corporations own both political parties. So here’s a progressive platform for 2012. Now where’s the candidate?

• Cut military spending in half. Bring home the troops.

• Rid politics of private money and institute public campaign financing.

• Link educational reform to the green economy. Make sustainability the basis of our public school curriculum. Inspire students to develop clean energy technologies and lifestyles of environmental harmony.

• Extend the 7 percent FICA withholding tax to all earned income, funding Medicare for every citizen. This will grow new jobs and businesses because entrepreneurs won’t …

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The 25th legislative district race is finally over. This race polarized our community, and unfortunately our community has lost.

I would like to commend Dawn Morrell for four terms of dedicated service. As a nurse, she worked hard to care for all of us and yet found the time, energy, and compassion to fight for us in the Legislature. She was vilified for voting for taxes, taxes that paid for services that our community uses and needs. She was an advocate for the less fortunate and fought for equity when it was not the politically popular thing to do. That …

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I would like to thank all the people who voted for the new House and Congress. Being middle class, I find it wonderful to see this new group of elected Republican officials wanting to vote against the lower- and middle-class tax breaks because the wealthy aren’t getting a bigger tax break.

Let us not forget them wanting to stop unemployment for the many jobless individuals before the holidays, but let’s give those wealthy people that big tax break.

Thank you once again for proving which Americans you truly stand for.